Microsoft's bricking of modified Xbox 360 consoles may bring the company its latest class action suit. Microsoft tells the over 1 million banned customers to buy a new Xbox 360 or deal with their crippled unit.

Legal firm is looking for banned Xbox owners to participate in suit

Gamers are really into tweaking their gear for fun and to achieve
the best performance during gameplay. PC gamers overclock their
hardware to get more performance for less money and console gamers
have modded their Xbox 360 consoles for many reasons (some for
innocent reasons, some for nefarious reasons).

Microsoft
appears to feel that the only reason to mod an Xbox 360 is to allow
the console to play pirated download software. A law firm based in
Texas that specializes in IP has launched a new website to gather
Xbox 360 users who have been banned for modding their consoles. The
main goal of the firm is to find out whether there are enough console
owners that were banned to start
a class action suit against Microsoft.

The law firm wrote
on its website, "Microsoft has chosen to use one of the most
indiscriminate "weapons" in its arsenal in an effort to
combat piracy -- as a result, use of this "weapon" has
resulted in a great deal of collateral damage -- many people were
affected who had nothing to do with piracy."

According to
the law firm, AbingtonIP, the bans were strategically timed so that
they didn’t interfere with the sales and new Xbox Live
registrations that were seen around the launch of HALO ODST
and the recent launch of Modern Warfare 2. AbingtonIP states
that had the bans happened before the launch of these games the
profits reaped by Microsoft would have been diminished.

So far
the Xbox 360 ban has led to more than 1
million consoles being banned from the network with the official
recourse for the banned players being to buy a new console and not
mod it this time around. A potential fix for banned consoles that
doesn't involve buying a new Xbox 360 surfaced. The workaround is
called iXtreme
LT and the goal of the workaround is to provide a minimum amount
of security checks and make the firmware as close to stock as
possible to avoid detection and the resulting ban.

The fix
arrived but was rather complex and required that the Xbox 360 not
have been updated or the player to have access to the CPU key of the
console. DailyTech has also spoke
with an attorney -- Jeffrey Johnson -- about the banning of Xbox
360 console form the Xbox Live network.

Microsoft's official
statement on the banning of certain consoles reads, "Our
commitment to combat piracy and support safer and more secure
gameplay for the more than 20 million members of our Xbox Live
community remains a top priority,” he wrote. “All consumers
should know that piracy is illegal, and that modifying their Xbox 360
console to play pirated discs, violates the Xbox Live terms of use,
will void their warranty and result in a ban from Xbox Live."

Comments

Threshold

Username

Password

remember me

This article is over a month old, voting and posting comments is disabled

quote: People should be able to mod their consoles the same way they mod their PC's or cars.

You're not playing against other people when you mod your car. The appropriate analogy to help you understand would be Nascar. The vehicles have very strict specifications that they all must adhere to. Break them, and the penalties are very steep. You either abide by the rules if you want to play, or you don't play.

The level playing field argument, I think, has nothing to do with it anyway. I'll offer a counter-example, but even that is meaningless because this really is an anti-piracy move on the part of MS.

Online games play on PCs every bit as much as on consoles. PCs are inherently rather open systems. I can go in and upgrade my hardware, get better frame rates, longer drawing distances, pay for a faster internet connection etc. etc. all in an effort to give me the edge in some online game. Meanwhile, my opponent could be playing over dial-up on an old machine that was a piece of junk even when it was new.

Yet, it works. People still play. Don't fear the chaos! It's just life, and there is no such thing as an even playing field.

No, pirating software is equivalent to pirating software. Making a modification to a piece of hardware that you own is equivalent to making modifications to anything you own. Stealing parts for a car is the same as stealing anything else (in that price range, stolen in the same manner, etc)).

If I were to pirate a 360 game and I didn't even have a 360 let alone a modded one I would have still broken a civil copyright law. If modding the 360 somehow breaks a law according to the DMCA then its a completely separate issue. You seem to be lumping it all together. It doesn't matter if you take stolen car parts and put them in your car or put them in your toilet. How you use your stolen goods has little to do with the fact that you stole them.

Also, piracy is a little hard to categorize as theft which is why it is in no way considered so in a court of law. It's infringement on a copyright.

quote: Also, piracy is a little hard to categorize as theft which is why it is in no way considered so in a court of law. It's infringement on a copyright.

I like to think of myself as open to people's views and opinions but the quote I posted above from your post is where your particular view lost complete and total credibility with me, rending your entire post null and void - like it never happened.

I don't often like to name came in posts, I don't think its very productive -- but in your case....sorry but you are f*cking moron.

quote: the quote I posted above from your post is where your particular view lost complete and total credibility with me

Wait, so someone else's post is where my viewpoints lost credibility with you? You didn't quote anybody.

Furthermore, do you disagree with what I said about piracy being theft? If you know of a way to prove it in court then feel free to explain that to me. I'm sure the RIAA would love to hear about it too considering they haven't been able to do so thus far.

You can dispense with the name calling as well, it's not appreciated and you're absolutely right when you say it isn't productive.